1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to attachments for ice skates and to ice skating training devices.
2. Related Art
Traditional hockey and figure ice skates include a boot and a single runner blade runner which is affixed to a bottom surface of the boot via a support frame. People who are just learning to ice skate often have difficulty using such traditional ice skates because they have difficulty stabilizing themselves on an ice surface. Accordingly, some ice skating manufacturers produce and sell beginner ice skates which have a pair of laterally spaced apart runner blades for improving the stabilization of the novice ice skater. However, such beginner ice skates are undesirable since they are an added expense and are soon outgrown as the person learning to skate reaches a stage of proficiency where the double runner blades are no longer needed. Once this occurs, the person or his or her parents, is faced with having to purchase a traditional, single-runner blade set of skates at an added cost.
It is also common for skaters to utilize some type of skate guard to cover and protect their runner blades when not in use or when wearing the skates on any surface other than ice. Such skate guards are typically made of rubber or plastic materials and have a general elongate channel shape which enables the user to slip the guards over the runner blades such that a lower edge of each runner blade is captured in the channel of the guard. A strap of some sort is typically wrapped about the support frame of the skate to secure the blade guard on the skate.